Is wing liner appropriate for a wedding? Well, that depends so much on who you are, what type of wedding you are having and what your personal style is.
Recently wing liner has become the rage with makeup. You see it everywhere on Instagram. Winged eyeliner (also known as the “cat-eye”) dates at least 5000 years back. “Kohl was used around the eyes in a tapered fashion to line the eyes for health reasons: it had immunological and antibacterial properties that supported eye health and minimized glare from the sun. So Ancient Egyptians, especially in the ruling class, would line their eyes with it. Ironically, today football players often smudge black under their eyes to cut the glare of the sun and stadium lighting.
Wing liner was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s when cosmetic companies were introduced to mass production, commercialization and the invention of liquid eye liner. Along with red lips, celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Sofia Loren made wing liner their trademark look. Wing liner made a resurgence around 2012 as the makeup industry once again experienced a boom thanks to inception of social media.
Now, it’s considered the skinny jeans of makeup — a bit played out and not always appropriate. In regard to weddings, one could also argue that wing liner is a sultry look and traditionally brides are supposed to imbue innocence (ergo the whole white dress routine). While wing liner remains a request I receive regularly, the look is not for every bride. As we age, our eye sockets change shape and become more tear dropped causing our eyes to recess into our skull a bit more and also causing more instances where the upper lid folds over the lower lid. Not so much a classic “hooded lid” but more of an undesirable aging characteristic along with crows feet. My advice to older brides is to steer clear of winged liner. For younger brides who like wing liner, I recommend the rest of the eye makeup be subtle so the wing becomes the showcase of the eye. If its an absolute must for your bridal makeup look, and you do want to go with a heavy eye makeup look consider a soft smudged out version in lieu of a strong black liquid-liner cat eye.
And, if youre getting married on a vineyard in Paso Robles or Santa Barbara wine country, consider the fact that other than Beth Dutton of Yellowstone, most country girls don’t wear a lot of makeup — it simply doesn’t go with the sun, wind, and dust of country living. While it may be great for a romantic dinner or fun night on the town, it may not be ideal for a wedding... That said, it's your wedding. You do you!